An Analysis of the Fundamentals of Marketing (part 29)

Comparison Between Business-to-Business and Consumer Buyer Behavior

by

Charles Lamson

Business-to-business consumer buyer behavior may be compared on several dimensions including demand characteristics, the market demographic profile and buyer-seller relationships.

Taking demand characteristics first, as has been discussed in my last post, while consumers buy for their own use and consumption, the demand for B-to-B goods and services is derived from consumer demand. B-to-B demand tends to be relatively price-inelastic, in that an increase or decrease in the price of one or two components of the thousands that might constitute a computer, for example, will not have a great effect on the overall price. Changes in consumer demand can lead to erratic developments in industrial markets, as even small increases in consumer demand can have a major effect.

The market demographic profile is also different for B-to-B markets. There are fewer B-to-B buyers than there are consumer purchasers; the former are larger and usually more geographically concentrated. 

When one considers the buying process there are some broad similarities between the concepts of 'involvement' which relate to consumer buyer behavior and the 'buy' class which relates to industrial buyer behavior. Both models range from simple, routine decisions to more complex and conscious decisions which may involve a number of people. A certain similarity in terms of the structure of the 'high involvement' consumer buying decision and the 'new task' organizational buying decision can be noted. However, the similarity ends there, the key element of involvement is that it relates to the consumer's ego involvement in relation to the product, while the new task purchase decision is related to lack of experience with the product or service.

While consumers generally buy for themselves and for their families, most consumer purchases are relatively low-risk, low-involvement purchases. Organizational buyers are always buying on behalf of others. This can mean that the organizational buying process is much more complex than that for consumer goods. For this reason, organizations are likely to have formed clear purchasing policies and guidelines which may be summarized in a purchasing manual. Organizational buyers are more apt to buy on specification. B-to-B purchases usually are dealt with by professionals because of the complexity of the decision. With respect to complex purchases the buying center can be expected to be large. Of course, there are group influences in consumer buying behavior, most notably in family decision making, e.g. when choosing a holiday or a new car. However, the family decision making structure is structured more formally than that which is to be found in the organization.

*SOURCE: FUNDAMENTALS OF MARKETING, 2007,  MARILYN A. STONE AND JOHN DRESMOND, 106-107*

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